1 dead after driver speeds vehicle into Suisun harbor

SUISUN CITY — One person died Saturday after driving a vehicle down the city’s boat...

SUISUN CITY — One person died Saturday after driving a vehicle down the city’s boat ramp and into the harbor.

The incident happened shortly before 9:30 p.m.

People at the scene told authorities that the vehicle drove straight down the boat ramp at a high rate of speed and into the water, the Fire Department reports.

Chief Justin Vincent, a certified rescue swimmer, arrived there in less than three minutes and entered the water to attempt a rescue. Suisun City police officer Cody Marler also entered the water to assist Vincent. Additional fire personnel soon arrived at the scene, to include a Fire Department rescue boat.

Dispatchers then received a call reporting a sinking vessel about a quarter-mile from the boat ramp, with one person on board. Division Chief Greg Renucci joined Vincent in the water to relieve Marler.

The rescue boat was launched to attempt a rescue at the sinking vessel. The rescue was a success.

Vincent found the vehicle about 10 feet below the surface and tried to save the driver. Vincent was able to open the driver’s side door and grab the victim, but was not able to free him from the vehicle without additional dive equipment, the Fire Department reports.

The situation then shifted from a rescue to a recovery operation.

Vincent tied the vehicle off to the dock. Police closed down the area for the night and remained on the scene overnight. The Solano County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team was called in to remove the vehicle and the driver’s body from the water Sunday morning.

The dive team successfully pulled the vehicle from the water at approximately 10:30 a.m. Sunday and confirmed that only the driver was within the vehicle, the Sheriff’s Office reports.

The victim’s name and other identifying information were not released.